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I don't know why I'm responding to this thread since it's six months old, but I'm gonna do it anyway. Here goes.

*Since I base a champ's worth off of how he can benefit a team, I'd say that the first and second category are too similar for me to distinguish between. However, there are certain characters that are way better at direct, 1on1 fights. I'll list those in the top category.

Top 3:

JAX: I don't know if there is any champ that can hold his own against Jax in a 1v1 with no outside influences. To engage him alone is akin to jumping in a swimming pool infested with sharksnofrickin sharks with frickin lasers attached to their frickin heads. His passive health boost makes him rather tanky as soon as he gets his item build going; his dodge chance assures that most of your basic attacks wont hit him; his counter strike prevents you from running while he pounds your face in with a rusty old lamppost, which, every third strike, echoes across the rift, causing the poor victim's teammates to instantly dash to the nearest bush and teleport home so that they can change their soiled underwear. All of this coupled with the fact that he is one of the fastest champs on foot and can leap halfway across Summoners Rift to engage or run away from his foes makes him an unstoppable, relentless hunter and/or survivor. I hate to imagine what hed be like with a big sword or war hammer. O.O

WARWICK: Warwicks built-in lifesteal from Eternal Thirst in addition to Hungering Strikes 100% dmg:heal conversion make him a contender for anyone who happens bump into him while taking a shortcut through the jungle (grandmas never gonna get that basket of goodies). With a stun that deals massive damage, basic attacks and skills that can recover lost health in the blink of an eye, and the ability to drastically boost his own attack speed, Warwick will make mincemeat of the poor chap who was foolish enough not to bring friends to this fight.

TRYNDAMERE: Nuff said. But really: this might be the one guy who stands a chance against Jax in a 1on1 throw-down (maybe). Bloodlust gives him a passive increase to his damage output with a direct damage increase as well as beefier critical strikes. Because of his passive, the more damage he receives, the more pain he can dole out (stacked with bloodlust, his critical strikes become rather ridiculous and, also, quite frequent). He can negate a large chunk of his adversaries damage with mocking shout, and if thats not enough, he can go super-saiyan and turn invincible for six seconds, feasting on his own lust for battle (what?!!) to heal himself after hes sliced his enemy into teeny, tiny pieces. The Barbarians were wise to make him king :P

Top 3 Most Useful:

JANNA: Where to start? Perhaps Howling Gale with its variable charge time and the ability to send an entire team airborne, whilst dealing massive damage, or simply debilitate/disorient them for a moment. Not doing it for you? How about a big shield that can target allied champions or turrets, giving them a huge buffer for any incoming damage, and also increasing their damage output drastically? No? Well then certainly the ability to turn the area surrounding her into a fountain of life from which all allies can soak up over one thousand health will cause you to agree with my assessment that Janna is one of the best champs to be fighting alongside. Seriously, I cant think of anyone Id rather have on my team. Every one of her abilities can be used to benefit those around her; Zephyr gives her the ability to sprint after any opposing stragglers and once shes caught up to them, she can slow em for her teammates to pick apart. Even her passive helps to give her entire team an edge by offering increased movement speed. Plus shes hot.

ASHE: Ive seen an entire team of feeders come back from sure defeat because they united under an Ashes bow. Volley and Frost Arrow will either keep a foe away or prevent them from getting away, simultaneously dealing largenoHUGE amounts of damage. Enchanted Crystal Arrow effectively takes a team of five down to a team of four and serves as one of the most valuable opening blows in an all-out 5on5 engagement; severely crippling one enemy with massive damage and stun time while the rest of the team jumps on the stunned champ like a pack of hungry wolves. The queen of crowd control, Ashe is a great person to have leading an assault or covering a retreat.

HEIMERDINGER (this one wasnt as easy as the others :/ but I think Im happy with it): I struggle with this choice because Heimer doesnt offer the most direct benefit in an all-out offensive battle. However, Heimer is incredibly potent if the enemy brings the fight to YOU. With the revamped turrets and upgrade system, Heimerdinger can build a nearly impenetrable wall of destruction that will mow down anyone who ventures too close, and if they realize that they are no match for the turrets and turn to flee, he can simply restore the turrets to full health and reduce the enemies movement to a snails pace with UPGRADE!!! while he dances around and throws wrenches in their face; stealing not only their life, but their dignity. Though the Hextech Micro-Rockets took a huge hit with Heimers big nerf, they still do a hefty chunk of damage to a team without any minion accompaniments, and the Concussion Grenade can nullify damage from basic attack sources (with the blinding effect or, if very well-placed, the stun effect), while dealing major damage. It can also hit a turret from outside the turrets range: very useful for taking down well-guarded towers and, to my knowledge, the only skill in the game capable of doing this. Simply put, Heimerdinger can fortify lanes like no other champ and make it nigh impossible for the enemy to advance without a great deal of effort and skill.

Bottom 3 (Oh boy, Im gonna get flamed by some diehards here -.-)

*Maybe thisll help: **DISCLAIMER** I acknowledge that there are some very talented players who put these assessments to shame. Ive played against some crazy people who have made me second-guess my opinions on these champions, however, more often than not, theyre garbage, and I rejoice upon seeing any of the following three characters opposite me in a lane.

EVELYNN: I have a hard time with this category because any fed champ can be a daunting foe, however, Eve seems daunting ONLY if she has been feda lot. Eve relies upon her stealth for kills, which is fine early in the game, when opponents are hesitant to spend their limited money on oracle elixirs or vision wards, but mid to late game people tend to buy these items and negate the stealth advantage. Without stealth, Eve can be severely crippled or, sometimes, rendered entirely useless. That being said, Ive played with against some very talented Eves recently who used Malice and spite along with ghost and ignite to basically zoom right up to someone with the oracle buff and tear into them before they even had a chance to realize she was there (I was a sad panda that day -.-). Like I said, though; it takes some masterful strokes early in the game to make Eve a viable character. If shes fed: shes disgusting, if not: shes a free meal.

TWITCH: I know, I know, Im hating on the invisible people today, but Twitch is very similar to Evelynn in that he is really only a threat if fed. Twitchs Ambush is icky early on the game, and even more so when he reaches level 6 and unleashes hell at you from an unforeseen position, but by the time opponents start buying elixirs, Twitch had better be fed, otherwise hes really got nothing to bring to the playing field. He is arguably the squishiest champ in the game, and Twitch players typically need to focus more on damage output in their builds than self-preservation items, so if he loses his stealth, hes going to get picked off rather quickly, before he can start tearing into the opposition.

ALISTAR: Oh, Alistar (deep sigh). I have only seen one decent Alistar in all of my 700 games of LOL, and he himself was not the threat. The day after Triumphant Roar got buffed, I laned against a Jax/Alistar combo. I cant remember who I was playing, but my partner and I were doing a pretty good job of harassing the two. The only problem was: it didnt matter. Two melee champs free-farming all our minions because Alistar literally did nothing but ROAR the entire time, and the mana manipulator plus clarity assured that the heal was never-ending. Soon Jax was jumping on our heads and cramming his lamppost down our throats with complete disregard for his own health (Alistar had that taken care of) and getting mad stacked. By the time it was over, Jax couldve singlehandedly taken out our entire team. Other than that single occurrence, Alistar has always turned out to be a joke. His offensive capabilities are very limited and hes rather ineffective as a tank since any smart player wont engage him once his ult has been popped. Typically its difficult to choose whether or not to target a tank, as most serve to disrupt a team and you want to destroy the thing that is impeding you so greatly (champs like ChoGath are disgustingly good at this: aoe silence, aoe launch/slow, aoe basic atk, single target, massive damage with Feast. Mmmmm; ChoGath). Alistar comes in, gets lucky to knock a few foes in the air with Pulverize, maybe headbutts a guy, throws on his ultimate, then turns into a turd. He can throw out Triumphant Roar to heal his allies once, maybe twice, but they are typically dead before it can be cast any more than that. While his spells are on cooldown, he isnt threatening or impeding anyone. So, often, he is ignored, and his teammates are cut down around him. He himself is really good at surviving, but he hardly fills the role of tank, as he wont draw the brunt of the assault in a big team battle. Maybe hed make a good mage, with his 1:1 AP conversion on Pulverize and Headbutt, but Ive never seen anyone go that route, so I assume thats no good either. Stick to making good Jaxes Alistar, it seems you arent useful for anything else. Also, the dudes got no basic attack damage output, why give him a passive that does more damage to turrets. Ive never seen an Alistar focus on structure destruction, and I think theres a reason for that

There! The deed is done! Bring on the hurt, my fellow leaguers! (or praise, whichever you see fit ) maybe I was too harsh on poor Ali

Jax: There really isn't a needed explanation for this, due to Jax's already high dodge chance making it very hard for any other character outside of mages(Who are usually squishy anyway) to best him with the exception of a very lucky Udyr.

Tryndamere: Activate your ulti, go down to 1 HP and have Kayle use hers on you. Avoid all masturbation jokes.

Shen: Possibly the best tank in the game due to being the only one to have an AoE taunt, a map-wide teleport with shielding added for his target and himself, and a life-steal built into a miniature nuke ranged attack.

Top Three Most Useful:

Ashe: Enchanted Crystal Arrow having that stun that allows you to initiate from anywhere on the map, passive slow, more slows with Volley, etc. If you need a kiter/ranged carry, she's your girl.

Janna: A Janna played badly is nothing to be afraid of, but a good Janna is an absolute nightmare due to her slow, shield, and AoE heal ulti. That and she, Sivir, Tristana are the top three tower pushing champions in the game(From what one understands).

Three Worst Champions:

Evelynn: Quite possibly THE worst melee champion in the game, while she can be classified as a stealth champion, she really leaves alot to be desired due to her incredible squishiness and her abilities/playstyle becoming null-and-void due to the placement of Sight Wards and Oracles Elixirs in the game.

While some may argue that "Even if you see her coming she can still stun you and probably kill you", it doesn't change the fact that the second she's spotted on the map by anybody on the team with an Oracles/Ward nearby she's going to get gibbed faster than the hunting partner shot by **** Cheney.

Akali: Probably going to be ragged on for this, but I just can't see Akali being useful in any games currently with any team composition. She almost felt like a champion made by Riot to rectify their shortcomings with Evelynn, but she suffers some of the same and if not WORSE shortcomings.

Not only does her "Shadow Dash" skill not allow her to escape like Jax's Leap Strike, it's incredibly unsafe for her in a team fight since as soon as she does it the enemy team will more than likely focus her down for it before she can build up momentum with her Crescent Slash/Mark. Her Twilight Shroud also does not help her much due to how easily hard countered it is, examples of said hard countering: